NMWM08200 - Working time: salaried hours work: travelling time
Relevant legislation
General
Assignment work
Travelling in connection with training
Consideration of travelling time
Relevant legislation
The legislation that applies to this page is as follows:
- National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015, regulations 19(1)(b), 20, 27(1)(c) and 27(3)
General
The time when a worker performing salaried hours work is travelling for the purpose of working (i.e. in connection with the employment) is included (i.e. treated as working time) when considering whether excess hours have been worked (NMWM08110). Such travelling will commonly fall within a worker’s normal working time and be included in basic hours (NMWM08030). However, even where the travelling varies the normal working time, it is still included as part of any excess hours consideration.
For National Minimum Wage purposes, the travelling between a worker’s place of residence (including temporary residence) and the place of their work is not considered as travelling for the purpose of working. Any time spent on such “home to work” travelling is not considered as working time and not included when considering excess hours.
Assignment work
Travelling for the purpose of working for National Minimum Wage purposes includes the time a worker spends travelling between assignments which need to be carried out at different places to which the worker is obliged to travel.
Travelling in connection with training
Travelling for the purpose of working for National Minimum Wage purposes includes the time a worker spends travelling between a place of work and a place where training is being provided.
Consideration of travelling time
When considering travelling time for National Minimum Wage purposes it is necessary to identify the time the worker spends travelling for the purpose of working. A primary consideration will be whether such travelling is in connection with the employment. The mode of transport is not a consideration, so a NMW Officer will not accept a suggestion by an employer that a worker’s travelling time should be adjusted as if they took an alternate mode of transport or different route to what actually occurred. Neither is it persuasive for an employer to identify travelling times based on optimal travelling conditions, such as computer calculated planned routes where such routes do not represent the actual circumstances of the travelling, such as distance, weather conditions or traffic delays.
It is appropriate to identify any time where the worker interrupts travelling in order to take a break (NMWM08210). Time when a break is taken during the course of a journey is not travelling time (but may still fall within basic hours and excess hours calculations). However, it should be noted that periods of waiting during travelling, such as queuing traffic, waiting for transport connections, etc. are likely to be treated as time worked and not automatically assumed to be time when a break is being taken.